Jenny Connorshttp://jennyconnors.com
cats, coffee, computers and musicMon, 01 Jan 2018 01:23:00 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.3http://jennyconnors.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/favicon175-150x150.pngJenny Connorshttp://jennyconnors.com
3232Happy New Year 2018!http://jennyconnors.com/happy-new-year-2018/
Mon, 01 Jan 2018 01:23:00 +0000http://jennyconnors.com/?p=906Homemade pizza, homemade chocolate ice cream, and a quiet evening with the dogs and Netflix. Happy New Year! Welcome 2018!
]]>Homemade Pumpkin Pureehttp://jennyconnors.com/homemade-pumpkin-puree/
Sun, 05 Nov 2017 15:32:14 +0000http://jennyconnors.com/?p=893Continue reading Homemade Pumpkin Puree→]]>I really wish I had taken photos of these steps, but honestly, making your own homemade pumpkin puree is so simple, you won’t need photos! However, simple as this may be, it is a long-ish process, so I recommend reading these instructions thoroughly before starting. Also, while you could probably get this done in one long day, I find it easier to start in the morning or afternoon of one day and finish up the next morning.

First, get a pumpkin, but don’t carve it. We usually get them the weekend before Halloween and put them outside, as is. Once you’re thinking about making the puree, bring them in so they have time to get to room temperature.

Put the entire pumpkin in a pre-heated oven at 350 degrees (F). The best way is to put it on the highest rack that it will fit on if it’s a big pumpkin, otherwise, middle ones are okay. Put a piece of tin foil underneath to catch any juices. I don’t recommend putting it on a cookie sheet because it won’t bake evenly.

Depending on the size of the pumpkin, it will take anywhere from 45 minutes to a couple of hours to bake the pumpkin. The pumpkin will be ready when you can stick a large chopping knife in and out with ease. Real ease too, where you can do it with one hand and don’t have to wiggle the knife to get it in. Take the pumpkin out of the oven and place it on something that can take the heat and is big enough.

Be careful here, because the pumpkin is hot and will release a lot of steam. Peel off as much of the skin as you can. Use the knife where it doesn’t just practically fall off. Then, cut the pumpkin in half at the middle and push the top half over so the two halves are next to each other. Scoop out the seeds and darker orange stringy stuff and set aside in another bowl for pumpkin seeds (rinse, get rid of the stringy stuff, salt, and broil on a cookie sheet until they’re done to your taste; stir them every 10 minutes or so).

While the pumpkin is cooling, set up your blender or food processor and a bowl for the pumpkin to drain in. I use a fine mesh stainless steel colander clipped to a large bowl and lined (the colander) with an old tea towel. You can use cheese cloth or even coffee filters; just make sure there’s some room on the bottom for the water to drain into.

Cut the pumpkin into small enough chunks so they fit in the blender or food processor. If the chunks don’t mix into a puree easily, or only the bottom part is mixing, add water. You’ll know when it works when it comes out fully pureed and as creamy as baby food.

Of course, since we’ve added water (or even if the pumpkin pureed without it), we need to drain the excess water back out. We want the puree to be thick, more like mashed potatoes, than the baby food consistency we have now.

When done making the puree, cover the bowl (a towel will do) and put the bowl in the fridge to drain overnight.

The next morning, your pumpkin will be just as thick and as tasty (or more!) than the puree you get from a can! About two cups of the pumpkin is equal to one 15-oz can of puree. You can freeze it or use it immediately. I freeze mine in 2-cup batches in small bags that I then put into a large freezer bag.

We had two medium-large sized pumpkins this year, and I got the equivalent of 14 cans of pumpkin puree! Let me know if you need any.

Set up your mixer and measure out the sugar and vanilla. (Keep the whipping cream as cold as possible until you are ready to make it.) Whip the cream until it starts to get thick; be patient, this could take minutes. When it thickens, add the sugar and vanilla, and mix a bit more to stir. Don’t keep mixing or you’ll end up with something like butter! Refrigerate; lasts about a week (if you can manage to not eat it all). Freezes great, too!

And remember: you can whip cream but you won’t get whipped cream unless you start with whipping cream.

]]>How to make a Buffet clarinethttp://jennyconnors.com/how-to-make-a-buffet-clarinet/
Fri, 04 Aug 2017 13:03:06 +0000http://jennyconnors.com/?p=880I came across this video of a Buffet factory making clarinets. Absolutely amazing! These are the best clarinets in the world. I miss playing them.

]]>Diary of a Bad Housewifehttp://jennyconnors.com/diary-of-a-bad-housewife/
Thu, 15 Jun 2017 17:28:03 +0000http://jennyconnors.com/?p=871Continue reading Diary of a Bad Housewife→]]>Since I’m not out and about anymore, I’ve been trying to pick up the housework slack. Mind you, I’m not crazy about housework in general, but I’m giving it an honest try. I’ve actually been able to load the dishwasher without Vin rearranging it, and can turn it on without needing written instructions.

Vin chops up all the week’s vegetables on Sundays. He always says he’s afraid of me doing it because I’ll cut myself and he doesn’t want to have to take me to the emergency room. (Geesh, need stitches on a sliced finger once and you never live it down!) But I’ve been making the salads and chopping up fruit for quite some time without incident. Well, maybe he’s on to something, because the first Sunday he lets me chop vegetables, I slice into a finger. I guess I’ll just stick to fruit.

And dusting. I really hate dusting, but with all the dog fur, it has to be done. We used to joke about dusting every Thanksgiving holiday, whether the house needed it or not, but I am trying to dust way more often, at least one room every week. This past week I did the dining room, which is where the thermostat is kept. Hmm, didn’t realize that thermostats are so sensitive. Did you know you can change the temperature setting by running a rag over the top of a thermostat? Right, I didn’t know that either. No wonder it was so stinking HOT in the house even though the air conditioner’s been running and this past week’s heat wave ended. Having the heat set to 75 degrees at the same time will do that. Good thing Vin heard the furnace kick on, or we might have had the heat wave longer than the rest of Massachusetts.

]]>Customizing the Vivaldi browser Bookmark Toolbar, part 2http://jennyconnors.com/customizing-the-vivaldi-browser-bookmark-toolbar-part-2/
Thu, 16 Feb 2017 01:18:00 +0000http://jennyconnors.com/?p=847Continue reading Customizing the Vivaldi browser Bookmark Toolbar, part 2→]]>Last time I posted about customizing the Vivaldi browser, which the developers claim is simple and one of their objectives, I wondered if I would be able to push my toolbar icons closer together, like they are in Chrome. And the answer is Yes! Although there are a lot of steps, in a nutshell, one simply has to add a “custom.css” file to the application folder and a Vivaldi file. And again and again each time Vivaldi issues an upgrade (once every few months, it seems).

By the way, if you “know” css, then you can certainly investigate a lot more things to customize. However, this example focuses on the space between the icons in the Bookmark Toolbar.

First, create a css file. Simply open some sort of text application (i.e., Notepad or TextPad) and save the file as custom.css (be sure to save it as “All Files” file type or you will end up with “custom.css.txt”) in the location “C:\Users\[your_user_name]\AppData\Local\Vivaldi”.

Paste the following into the new css file:

.bookmark-bar button {
padding:0 1px;
}

I like my icons close together, but you can experiment with making the padding a bit wider than 1 pixel (the default padding width is 6 pixels). Save and close the file, and now you have a backup of your custom stylesheet. Always leave a copy in this location, or you will lose it with each upgrade. That being said, now copythe custom.css file to “C:\Users\[your_user_name]\AppData\Local\Vivaldi\Application\[current_version]\resources\vivaldi\style”.

Navigate up one folder level to “C:\Users\[your_user_name]\AppData\Local\Vivaldi\Application\[current_version]\resources\vivaldi\” and open the file “browser.html”. Don’t just double-click on it, however, or you will end up viewing it in your browser! Instead, right-click and choose to open (or edit) it with the same text application you used to create your css file. Alternatively, you could select to open this file from the text application, navigating to the same location.

]]>Customizing the Vivaldi browser Bookmark Toolbar, part 1http://jennyconnors.com/customizing-the-browser-vivaldi/
Sat, 27 Aug 2016 19:47:57 +0000http://jennyconnors.com/?p=831Continue reading Customizing the Vivaldi browser Bookmark Toolbar, part 1→]]>I’ve been using Vivaldi as my primary browser for a few weeks now, after using it as an alternative, and there is no going back. I really like it. I have more or less adapted to the differences between it and Firefox (bookmarks, mostly), and have installed the few extensions from Chrome I can’t live without (FB Purity), and voila, I’m set up.

However, there was one thing that bothered me that I could not find an easy workaround for: the distance between the icons on the bookmarks toolbar. I live off that toolbar, but here is how far apart the icons are by default:

Here is what my Chrome bookmark toolbar looks like:

So after a few weeks, I knew I could not work with the icons that spread apart. They all couldn’t fit onto the toolbar, and I really didn’t want any overflowing to where I couldn’t see them (okay, my OCD is showing here). Vivaldi is supposed to be so customizable, so I thought, well, let’s see! Was I able to do it? Stay tuned! Part 2 coming up.

]]>Music to get things done byhttp://jennyconnors.com/music-to-get-things-done-by/
Fri, 13 May 2016 15:39:36 +0000http://jennyconnors.com/?p=821Continue reading Music to get things done by→]]>Another music post! Today is a rare day without a headache, and I have a lot to get done, so put on the music! What will I listen to? Well, Hamilton, of course! But what else?

The soundtrack to Sideways, by Rolfe Kent

A lot of Ted Nash

The soundtrack to Death Proof, but just the songs

The soundtrack to Superfly, by Curtis Mayfield

Television Landscape, by William Brittelle

What a great playlist!

]]>Music to listen to over and over againhttp://jennyconnors.com/music-to-listen-to-over-and-over-again/
Mon, 25 Jan 2016 16:55:31 +0000http://jennyconnors.com/?p=804Continue reading Music to listen to over and over again→]]>There isn’t music much more basic than a piano and a voice or two. Every now and then I come across a piece that I have to listen to over and over again. Granted, part of that is my personality (or rather, autism), but I dare say that many would listen to this beautiful song and not want to hear it again immediately.

Watch the video; don’t just listen – at least the first time. The words and eerie background animation shadows tell a sad winter tale, but with such simple, haunting music.

So beautiful, so quiet, like falling snow. But when you are a wet and cold. When you are walking alone. When it is just getting dark. Each time you listen.

]]>Some comments about my autismhttp://jennyconnors.com/some-comments-about-my-autism/
Sun, 15 Nov 2015 15:10:58 +0000http://jennyconnors.com/?p=796Continue reading Some comments about my autism→]]>Yes, I am on the autistic spectrum. I have what used to be referred to as Asperger’s Disorder. No, you can’t tell by looking at me. In fact, you probably wouldn’t be able to tell even by spending time with me.

Women/girls are harder to diagnose and recognize with Autistic Spectrum Disorder than men/boys.

That is a fact.

Here are some things that have been said to me when I have disclosed my disorder:

No you don’t [have Asperger’s]. My [male relative] has it and I know what it looks like.

(After I smiled at a joke.) See? You’re social!

Oh, is that the diagnosis-du-jour?

And even after hearing that I have a disability, harsh words have been used to describe me rather than understand a lot of what makes me appear to be difficult IS the disability.